DUSP1, a member of the threonine-tyrosine dual-specificity phosphatase family, was first discovered in mouse cells; it was later found that the protein encoded by DUSP1 dephosphorylated the MAP kinases MAPK1/ERK2 in the MAPK signaling pathway.24The Ras/Raf/MAPK signaling pathway was activated in 50 to 100% of human HCC cases and was associated with poor prognosis.25The present study of DUSP1 in liver cancer initially revealed its specific mechanism of inhibiting the development of HCC. This evidence concerns the gene MAPK1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.